Dear Brothers and Sisters,
There is a story about three pious Jewish men who wanted to travel to a distant city to spend a few days with a famous rabbi. Halfway on their journey they realized that their calculations for endurance were greatly flawed. They were very tired and without food, so they came up with a plan. They decided that one of them would disguise himself as a rabbi and when they came to the next town they would be welcomed, and be given food and a place to stay. Being holy men, they did not like this plan, but they saw no alternative.
When they arrived at the next town they were greeted with joy because a “rabbi” was with them, and they were brought to a local tavern and treated to a lavish meal. The innkeeper approached the “rabbi” and said that his son was sick and in danger of dying and could he come and give his blessing. So, the “rabbi” could do nothing but accompany the father to visit his son’s sick bed. The next day they left the village, and the innkeeper leant them a carriage and a few horses.
They arrived at their destination and too soon their visit was over, and they came back to the village to return the horses and carriage. As they approached the town, the “rabbi” disguised himself again and in a distance they could see the innkeeper waving his hands at them. To the surprise of the “rabbi” he was embraced with joy and was told that his son was healed an hour after he had left their village.
The Jewish men asked the “rabbi” what he did at the boy’s death bed. He told them about the prayer he said, “Heavenly Father, do not punish this father and son because they think that I am a rabbi. I am nothing. I am only a pretender. If the child dies, he will think that rabbis are worthless so not for my sake but for the sake of this father and his faith, what would it hurt if you cured this child?
The Jews tell this story because of its profound insight to me. We are all pretenders and hypocrites, at times. And none of us are worthy of the Lord’s mercy. Perhaps Zaccheus was tired of being a pretender or was tired of being hated so much because of the work he did and the money he stole from his people. We will never know. But he did two things that were very simple and for a man of his stature, very foolish. He ran and he climbed a tree in order to see Jesus Christ. He thought he was seeking Christ, but it was Jesus Christ who found him, and he does the same to you and me.
And then Jesus says to him, “Today I must stay at your house.” What does he mean? Jesus will remain with Zaccheus always; he will abide with him not just today for an hour or so, but always. And then Zaccheus makes a huge conversion. He gives away all that he has. The law says if you cheat someone give back that amount plus twenty percent, but he gave all he had.
How did this unfold? First, Zaccheus had this encounter with Jesus Christ and then he made a big conversion. It wasn’t the other way around. First, was the encounter with Christ who loved him and didn’t condemn him, and then a tremendous change in the opposite direction.
We can all encounter Christ by being simple and doing something that the world thinks is foolish, like making a retreat or confessing our sins. When we have the desire to see Christ, he will find us.